Method for embedding a battery tab attachment in a self-standing electrode without current collector or binder

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure is directed to methods and embedding battery tab attachment structures within composites of electrode active materials and carbon nanotubes, which lack binder and lack collector foils, and the resulting self-standing electrodes. Such methods and the resulting self-standing electrodes may facilitate the use of such composites in battery and power applications.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/123,872, entitled “Method for Embedding a Battery Tab Attachment in a Self-Standing Electrode Without Current Collector or Binder,” filed Sep. 6, 2018, which claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 62/559,254, entitled “Method and Structure for Battery Tab Attachment to a Self-Standing Electrode Without Current Collector or Binder,” filed Sep. 15, 2017, the entirety of both applications being incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

A Li-ion battery consists of two electrodes (anode and cathode), a membrane separating anode from cathode, and electrolyte. Electrodes consist of an active material, a binder, a carbon-based additive and current collectors. Aluminum/Copper foils are typical current collectors for Li-ion batteries. Usually, the active material is printed on the surface of the current collectors using a slurry consisting of the active material, the additive, a binder, and a proper solvent. After preparation of the electrode, an electrically conductive tab is attached to the current collector to get the current out of the battery. Commonly, the tab is a strip of aluminum/copper foil, which is welded to the current collector foil of the electrodes.

In the case of self-standing electrodes, comprising only the active material powder and carbon nanotube matrix, and in which no collector foil is present, a method is needed for transporting the current from the electrodes. In other words, it is necessary to solve the problem of tab attachment to the electrode, which does not have any current collector foils.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects of the present disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure is directed to a self-standing electrode comprising: a composite of an electrode active material, and carbon nanotubes; and a battery tab attachment structure embedded in the composite, wherein the electrode has an overall length, an overall width, and an overall thickness, and the battery tab attachment structure has a width that is about 1% to about 100% of the overall width of the electrode.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure is directed to a method of making a binderless, collectorless self-standing electrode, the method comprising: aerosolizing or fluidizing an electrode active material to produce an aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material; and co-depositing the aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material and carbon nanotubes onto a first porous surface, and a battery tab attachment structure spaced above the first porous surface to form a self-standing electrode material that is a composite of the electrode active material in a three-dimensional network of carbon nanotubes with the battery tab attachment structure embedded within the self-standing electrode material, wherein the electrode has an overall length, an overall width, and an overall thickness, and the battery tab attachment structure has a width that is about 1% to about 100% of the overall width of the electrode.

These and other aspects of the invention will become more fully understood upon a review of the detailed description, which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1D show a schematic of a method for battery tab attachment to a self-standing electrode according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 2A-2C show examples of images of tab attachment according to the aspects depicted in FIGS. 1A-1D.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details.

The present disclosure provides self-standing electrodes comprising a composite of carbon nanotubes and electrode active materials, with a battery tab attachment structure embedded in the composite, and methods of making the same.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure is directed to a self-standing electrode comprising: a composite of an electrode active material, and carbon nanotubes; and a battery tab attachment structure embedded in the composite, wherein the electrode has an overall length, an overall width, and an overall thickness, and the battery tab attachment structure has a width that is about 1% to about 100% of the overall width of the electrode. In some aspects, the battery tab attachment structure width is about 10% to about 75% of the overall width of the electrode.

As used herein, “electrode active material” refers to the conductive material in an electrode. The term “electrode” refers to an electrical conductor where ions and electrons are exchanged with an electrolyte and an outer circuit. “Positive electrode” and “cathode” are used synonymously in the present description and refer to the electrode having the higher electrode potential in an electrochemical cell (i.e., higher than the negative electrode). “Negative electrode” and “anode” are used synonymously in the present description and refer to the electrode having the lower electrode potential in an electrochemical cell (i.e., lower than the positive electrode). Cathodic reduction refers to gain of electron(s) of a chemical species, and anodic oxidation refers to the loss of electron(s) of a chemical species.

In a non-limiting example, the electrode active material may be any solid, metal oxide powder that is capable of being aerosolized. In an illustrative example, the metal oxide is a material for use in the cathode of the battery. Non-limiting examples of metal oxides include oxides of Ni, Mn, Co, Al, Mg, Ti, and any mixture thereof. The metal oxide may be lithiated. In an illustrative example, the metal oxide is lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (LiNiMnCoO2). The metal oxide powders can have a particle size defined within a range between about 1 nanometer and about 100 microns. In a non-limiting example, the metal oxide particles have an average particle size of about 1 nm to about 10 nm. In some aspects, the electrode active material is selected from graphite, hard carbon, silicon, silicon oxides, lithium metal oxides, lithium iron phosphate, and lithium metal.

Metals in lithium metal oxides according to the present disclosure may include but are not limited to one or more alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, transition metals, aluminum, or post-transition metals, and hydrates thereof.

“Alkali metals” are metals in Group I of the periodic table of the elements, such as lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, or francium.

“Alkaline earth metals” are metals in Group II of the periodic table of the elements, such as beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium, or radium.

“Transition metals” are metals in the d-block of the periodic table of the elements, including the lanthanide and actinide series. Transition metals include, but are not limited to, scandium, titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, yttrium, zirconium, niobium, molybdenum, technetium, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, cadmium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten, rhenium, osmium, iridium, platinum, gold, mercury, actinium, thorium, protactinium, uranium, neptunium, plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, fermium, mendelevium, nobelium, and lawrencium.

“Post-transition metals” include, but are not limited to, gallium, indium, tin, thallium, lead, bismuth, or polonium.

As used herein, suitable composites of “an electrode active material and single-walled carbon nanotubes” include, but are not limited to, self-standing electrodes such as those disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/665,171, entitled “Self Standing Electrodes and Methods for Making Thereof,” filed Jul. 31, 2017, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/665,142, entitled “Continuous Production of Binder and Collector-Less Self-Standing Electrodes for Li-Ion Batteries by Using Carbon Nanotubes as an Additive,” filed Jul. 31, 2017. Each of these applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. In some aspects, the electrode active material is selected from graphite, hard carbon, lithium metal oxides, and lithium iron phosphate.

In some aspects, the battery tab attachment structure comprises a metal. In some aspects, the metal is copper, aluminum, nickel, or stainless steel. In a non-limiting example, the stainless steel may be any stainless steel known in the art, including, but not limited to, SS304 and SS316. In some aspects, the battery tab attachment structure comprises a conductive carbon structure. The conductive carbon structure may comprise carbon nanotubes, graphene, (such as two- and three-dimensional graphene forms, such as graphene foams), carbon fibers, graphite, or any other conductive allotropic form of carbon, or a combination thereof, or a composite thereof. The carbon nanotubes may be single-, few-, or multi-walled carbon nanotubes, or a combination thereof, with single-walled carbon nanotubes being preferred. When carbon nanotubes and/or carbon fibers are used, the carbon nanotubes and/or carbon fibers may be in the form of nanotube yarn, nanotube threads, nanotube cloth, nanotube wires, nanotube paper (i.e., buckypaper), nanotube mats, nanotube sheets, or nanotube felt. The battery tab attachment structure may be in any solid physical form, including but not limited to, foil, strips, wire, grid, ropes, mesh foil, perforated foil, cloth, gauze, or mesh. The battery tab attachment structure may be embedded in the composite by a process of co-depositing aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material and single-walled carbon nanotubes onto a first porous surface with the battery tab attachment structure spaced above it. The aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material and single-walled carbon nanotubes may be present in a mixture together or may not contact each other prior to the co-depositing or co-deposition. Suitable co-depositing methods and apparatuses may be known in the art and include, but are not limited to, those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/665,171, entitled “Self Standing Electrodes and Methods for Making Thereof,” filed Jul. 31, 2017, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/665,142, entitled “Continuous Production of Binder and Collector-Less Self-Standing Electrodes for Li-Ion Batteries by Using Carbon Nanotubes as an Additive,” filed Jul. 31, 2017. Each of these applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

The self-standing electrode of the present disclosure may be characterized by an overall length, an overall width, and an overall thickness, including both the composite and the battery tab attachment structure embedded therein. In some aspects, the overall thickness of the electrode is from about 10 μm to about 5000 μm, such as from about 20 μm to about 300 μm, or any integer or subrange in between. In some aspects, the electrode has an overall thickness of about 20 μm to about 100 μm. In some aspects, the electrode has an overall thickness of about 20 μm to about 75 μm. the electrode has an overall thickness of about 20 μm to about 50 μm. the electrode has an overall thickness of about 20 μm to about 40 μm.

According to the present disclosure, the battery tab attachment structure has a width that is about 10% to about 75% of the overall width of the electrode. In some aspects, the battery tab attachment structure has a width that is about 10% to about 50% of the overall width of the electrode. In some aspects, the battery tab attachment structure has a width that is about 10% to about 30% of the overall width of the electrode. In some aspects, the battery tab attachment structure has a width that is about 3% to about 10% of the overall width of the electrode.

In other embodiments, the present disclosure is directed to a method of making a binderless, collectorless self-standing electrode, the method comprising:

aerosolizing or fluidizing an electrode active material to produce an aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material; and co-depositing the aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material and carbon nanotubes onto a first porous surface, and a battery tab attachment structure spaced above the first porous surface to form a self-standing electrode material that is a composite of the electrode active material in a three-dimensional network of carbon nanotubes with the battery tab attachment structure embedded within the self-standing electrode material, wherein the electrode has an overall length, an overall width, and an overall thickness, and the battery tab attachment structure has a width that is about 1% to about 100% of the overall width of the electrode. All aspects described with respect to the self-standing electrode apply with equal force to the method of making the binderless, collectorless self-standing electrode, and vice versa. The carbon nanotubes may be single-walled, few-walled, or multi-walled, or a combination thereof.

In some aspects, the co-depositing the aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material and carbon nanotubes onto the first porous surface and the battery tab attachment structure spaced above the first porous surface comprises simultaneously contacting with the first porous surface and the battery tab attachment structure spaced above the first porous surface the aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material and the carbon nanotubes, wherein the aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material and the carbon nanotubes were not previously in contact with one another. Suitable methods and apparatuses for production of carbon nanotubes and aerosolization or fluidization of electrode active materials for simultaneous deposition, wherein the aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material and the single-walled carbon nanotubes do not contact each other prior to their simultaneous deposition, include those known to persons of ordinary skill in the art, including, but not limited to, those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/665,142, entitled “Continuous Production of Binder and Collector-Less Self-Standing Electrodes for Li-Ion Batteries by Using Carbon Nanotubes as an Additive,” filed Jul. 31, 2017, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

In some aspects, the co-depositing the aerosolized or fluidized active material and carbon nanotubes onto the first porous surface and the battery tab attachment structure spaced above the first porous surface comprises contacting the aerosolized electrode active material powder with the carbon nanotubes in a carrier gas to form a mixture of the carbon nanotubes and the aerosolized electrode active material powder; collecting the mixture on the first porous surface and the battery tab attachment structure spaced above the first porous surface; and removing the carrier gas. Suitable methods and apparatuses for contacting the aerosolized electrode active material powder with the carbon nanotubes in a carrier gas to form a mixture of the single-walled carbon nanotubes and the aerosolized electrode active material powder, suitable porous surfaces, and suitable methods and apparatuses for removing carrier gases are known to those of ordinary skill in the art and include, but are not limited to, those disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/665,171, entitled “Self Standing Electrodes and Methods for Making Thereof,” filed Jul. 31, 2017, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIGS. 1A-1D show a schematic of a method for battery tab attachment to a self-standing electrode according to some aspects of the present disclosure. The battery tab attachment structure 101 may be spaced above the first porous surface using any suitable means as may be known to those of ordinary skill in the art, including, but not limited to, positioning one or more spacers 103 onto the first porous surface 102 and positioning the battery tab attachment structure 101 onto the one or more spacers 103. Preferably, the one or more spacers 103 are positioned on the porous surface 102, and the battery tab attachment structure 101 is positioned on the one or more spacers 103, so as to leave a vertical gap h between the battery tab attachment structure 101 and the first porous surface 102 for a portion of the length of the battery tab attachment structure 101, so that the aerosolized electrode active material and the carbon nanotubes may co-deposit above and below the battery tab attachment structure 101, i.e., both above the battery tab attachment structure 101 and above the first porous surface 102 but below the battery tab attachment structure 101. The vertical gap h may be of any size relative to the battery tab attachment structure 101 thickness. The battery tab attachment structure 101 may be of any thickness, such as about 5 μm to about 2000 μm, such as about 10 μm to about 290 μm, such as about 100 μm or about 15 μm, or any other integer or subrange in between. Tab attachment structure width and thickness depend on the electrode size and the weight of the active material in it, and, therefore, the current the tab needs to carry. Based on the conductance of tab attachment structure and tab materials, and the current it needs to carry, the minimal tab attachment structure geometry (especially its cross-section area) can be calculated. The battery tab attachment structure may be embedded within the composite at any depth. In some aspects, it is embedded at a depth that is halfway through the overall thickness of the self-standing electrode.

In some aspects, two spacers 103 may be used. Suitable spacer materials include, but are not limited to paper, cellulose, and polymeric materials. The one or more spacers 103 may be of any dimensions and shape relative to the porous surface 102 and/or the battery tab attachment structure 101, but preferably the one or more spacers 103 are wider than the battery tab attachment structure, so as to facilitate removal of the self-standing electrode material after the co-depositing.

The co-depositing may occur over any duration of time. Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory, the overall thickness of the self-standing electrode may be determined by one or more factors including but not limited to the duration of time of co-depositing, the flow rate of the aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material and/or the single walled carbon nanotubes, the concentrations of the aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material and/or the single walled carbon nanotubes, the thickness of the battery tab attachment structure, and the size of the vertical gap h. In some aspects, about 20 minutes of co-depositing may result in a self-standing electrode with an overall thickness of about 30 μm. In some aspects, about 2 hours of co-depositing may result in a self-standing electrode with an overall thickness of about 100 μm. Those of ordinary skill in the art will be able to vary those factors to obtain self-standing electrodes of desired thickness and/or other properties, such as electric chare or energy charge. For example, flow rate and/or concentrations of the aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material and/or the single walled carbon nanotubes may be varied using the methods and apparatuses disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/665,171, entitled “Self Standing Electrodes and Methods for Making Thereof,” filed Jul. 31, 2017, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/665,142, entitled “Continuous Production of Binder and Collector-Less Self-Standing Electrodes for Li-Ion Batteries by Using Carbon Nanotubes as an Additive,” filed Jul. 31, 2017. Each of these applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

In addition, the overall thickness of the self-standing electrode may be modified by pressing, which may reduce the overall thickness by as much as half. For example, a self-standing electrode with an overall thickness of 100 μm may be pressed to a thickness of 50 μm. Pressing may also modify the density of the composite and/or the battery tab attachment structure. Suitable methods and apparatuses for pressing electrodes are known in the art and include but are not limited to those disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/665,171, entitled “Self Standing Electrodes and Methods for Making Thereof,” filed Jul. 31, 2017, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/665,142, entitled “Continuous Production of Binder and Collector-Less Self-Standing Electrodes for Li-Ion Batteries by Using Carbon Nanotubes as an Additive,” filed Jul. 31, 2017. Each of these applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

EXAMPLE

A narrow and thin conductive strip/wire/grid is embedded into a self-standing electrode during its formation (FIGS. 1A-1D). For this purpose, metal piece 101, which may be thin aluminum or copper strips, wire, or mesh, was spaced a distance h above a frit or mesh 102 (using spacers 103) that serves as a substrate/filter for simultaneous deposition of a mixture of an electrode active material powder and a carbon nanotube additive (FIGS. 1A-B). In a non-limiting example, the carbon nanotube additive may comprise single-walled carbon nanotubes, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, and mixtures thereof. The dimensions of the strip or wire 101 can be very small compared to the electrode size. During the deposition of the mixture 104 to form an electrode film, the electrode active material and the carbon nanotube additive grows around, below, above, and/or on the metal strips, wire, or mesh 101, encapsulating these metal structure(s) 101 inside the mixture of the electrode active material and the carbon nanotube additive (FIGS. 1C-D). Frit 102 also serves as a filter to filter gases in direction 105. Then, the electrode film 106 with the metal structures 101 inside it is pressed to the desired density using a roller mill or another method, thus resulting in a self-standing composite electrode with the metal structure embedded in it. The metal structure 101 (foil, strip, wire, mesh, grid, etc.) can protrude outside of the electrode 106, providing an electric tab attachment spot. The tab can be attached by welding or by another method. As a variant of this method, the embedded conductive structure can be a metal mesh or a conductive permeable membrane (e.g., made of conductive polymers), which itself serves as a substrate/filter for electrode formation/deposition. This can be used either for electrode growth from gas phase (e.g., aerosol), or for deposition from a liquid phase (e.g., from a mixture or suspension). Then, the conductive substrate/filter is embedded into the material by a pressing procedure, as described above. FIG. 2a shows an example of an aluminum mesh 101 on the frit. FIG. 2b shows the example of FIG. 2a upon deposition of the mixture of the carbon nanotube (CNT) and the electrode active material. FIG. 2c shows an example of an aluminum mesh 101 embedded in a self-standing electrode.

This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the preferred embodiments, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims. Aspects from the various embodiments described, as well as other known equivalents for each such aspect, can be mixed and matched by one of ordinary skill in the art to construct additional embodiments and techniques in accordance with principles of this application. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of making a self-standing electrode, the method comprising: providing a battery tab attachment structure spaced apart from a first porous surface; and co-depositing an aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material and carbon nanotubes onto the first porous surface to form the self-standing electrode comprising a composite of the electrode active material and the carbon nanotubes with at least a portion of the battery tab attachment structure embedded therein.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-standing electrode has an overall length, an overall width, and an overall thickness, and the battery tab attachment structure has a width that is about 1% to about 100% of the overall width of the self-standing electrode.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-standing electrode has an overall length, an overall width, and an overall thickness, and the battery tab attachment structure has a width that is about 1% to about 50% of the overall width of the self-standing electrode.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-standing electrode has an overall length, an overall width, and an overall thickness, and the battery tab attachment structure has a width that is about 10% to about 50% of the overall width of the self-standing electrode.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-standing electrode has an overall length, an overall width, and an overall thickness, and the battery tab attachment structure has a width that is about 10% to about 30% of the overall width of the self-standing electrode.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-standing electrode has an overall length, an overall width, and an overall thickness, and the battery tab attachment structure has a width that is about 10% to about 20% of the overall width of the self-standing electrode.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the electrode active material is selected from the group consisting of graphite, hard carbon, silicon, silicon oxides, lithium metal oxides, lithium iron phosphate, lithium metal, and combinations thereof.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the battery tab attachment structure comprises a metal.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the metal comprises copper, aluminum, nickel, stainless steel, or a combination thereof.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-standing electrode has a thickness of about 10 μm to about 5000 μm.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-standing electrode has a thickness of about 20 μm to about 100 μm.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-standing electrode is binderless and collectorless.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the composite comprises the electrode active material in a three-dimensional network of the carbon nanotubes.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein co-depositing the aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material and the carbon nanotubes comprises: contacting the aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material with the carbon nanotubes in a carrier gas to form a mixture of the carbon nanotubes and the aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material; collecting the mixture on the first porous surface and on the battery tab attachment structure; and removing the carrier gas.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the battery tab attachment structure has a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, and wherein at least a portion of each of the first surface and the second surface are in contact with the self-standing electrode material in the self-standing electrode.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the battery tab attachment structure comprises a conductive carbon structure.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the conductive carbon structure comprises carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon fibers, graphite, any other conductive allotropic form of carbon, or a combination thereof, or a composite of thereof.
 18. A method of making a self-standing electrode comprising: aerosolizing or fluidizing an electrode active material to produce an aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material; co-depositing the aerosolized or fluidized electrode active material and carbon nanotubes onto a first porous surface to form the self-standing electrode, the self-standing electrode comprising a self-standing electrode material with a battery tab attachment structure embedded within; and removing the self-standing electrode from the first porous surface, wherein the self-standing electrode material comprises a composite of the electrode active material and the carbon nanotubes.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the self-standing electrode is binderless and collectorless.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the composite comprises the electrode active material in a three-dimensional network of the carbon nanotubes. 